Zeekr 9X Unveiled: A Luxury Hybrid That Can Go 380km Without Fuel

A major auto show opened in Shanghai this week, with companies vying for the wallets of buyers in the world’s largest market trying to show off impressive new products. For Zeekr, it was the flagship 9X SUV, which marked a departure from pure electric tradition but offered impressive range without the use of an internal combustion engine.

Image source: Zeekr

Equipped with the latest CATL Freevoy traction battery, the capacity of which is not yet specified, but it is this that allows the large and heavy car to travel up to 380 km without starting the two-liter internal combustion engine, which it is also equipped with. The presence of a turbine allows you to remove 279 hp of power from the internal combustion engine of this hybrid, which is quite rare among Chinese serial hybrids. In theory, an internal combustion engine of such power should be enough for confident movement at high speeds without reducing the charge of the traction battery, but this can only be judged by the results of Zeekr 9X tests. It should go on sale in the third quarter of this year.

Image source: Zeekr

This large SUV with a luxurious finish is also not deprived of dynamics, it reaches 100 km / h in 3 seconds. The car is equipped with a dual-chamber air suspension and a lateral stability stabilization system. Nvidia shared with Zeekr two Nvidia Tegra processors of the Thor generation, which will be responsible for active driver assistance systems, providing a performance of 1400 TOPS. The presence of 5 lidars and many other sensors will allow the implementation of autonomy of the third level of control according to the SAE classification. Theoretically, the driver will not have to hold the steering wheel and not look at the road for some time, but in China itself, such behavior will probably be hindered by local laws. The CATL traction battery in this hybrid is designed for an almost full charge in 15 minutes, in the third quarter, Zeekr will begin distributing charging stations with a capacity of 1.3 MW across China.